EU Parliamentarians decided today, 5 July 2018, that the initial text proposed as the Copyright Directive Reform needs to be re-opened for edits. This will allow the 751 MEPs to propose amendments in September and call for the deletion of the notorious Article 13.

This positive vote happened because people stood up and demanded better legislation. Despite a huge campaign to discredit the views of citizens as being simply the product of ‘disinformation’, their voice was heard in the end

said Diego Naranjo, Senior Policy Advisor at EDRi.

The European Parliament (EP) has taken note of the criticism raised by a large numbers of individuals, civil society groups, creators, academics and the World Wide Web’s inventor against the Censorship Machine. Regardless of the huge lobbying from the rightsholder industry, the EP has decided to have open discussions aimed at finding an optimal text that balances all views on the Directive and that removes the risk of privatised censorship.

The European Parliament will now be able, in an open debate, to improve the text and defend freedom of expression ahead of the next elections

said Diego Naranjo, Senior Policy Advisor at EDRi

Citizens have made themselves heard via thousands of emails and tweets, hundreds of calls and a petition signed by nearly 1 million people. Representatives who preserve their citizens’ freedoms will reap the benefits during 2019 elections.